Life-Sized Ammonite

Ammonoids (commonly, but colloquially, known as ammonites) were a type of prehistoric cephalopod related to today's nautiloids. While they all followed a similar body plan of a (usually spiral shaped) shell and an octopus like body, there was still a ton of diversity. About 10,000 species have been identified (source: ammonites), which survived for millions of years. Like trilobites, ammonoids are often used as references to tell how old a fossil is.

So this set is my model of an ammonite, which is approximately 1:1 scale. While it isn't based on any one specific species, I included common characteristics such as a medium size, tightly coiled shell, and small spikes on the shell.

For the environment around the ammonite, I built a generic sandy ocean floor, with ridges made from plate pieces to make it more realistic. I also included 3 trilobites, 7 fishes, and another, smaller ammonite.

All of the ammonite's arms are on ball-and-socket joints, and thus can be posed. I chose to have them wrapping around a fish, as fishes might have been the prey of some ammonites. Conversely, I have a fish (modelled off of Dunkleosteus) that is about to eat the smaller ammonite.

Overall, this set is, to the extent of my knowledge, an accurate diorama of an ammonite. This is one of those models that I found an old design of mine and improved it as much as possible, so I guess I built this for fun.

I believe that this would make a great set because not only are ammonites one of the most famous extinct marine animals, but paleontologists/fossil collectors would probably love it.